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Building Bridges to Africa
A delegation of 20 academics, businesspeople and policymakers, led by TAU President Joseph Klafter, attended the second Africa-Israel Forum held in Abeokuta, Nigeria. The Nigeria summit, dedicated to technology in agriculture, was hosted by former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo at his Presidential Library. It was held by TAU in partnership with the Brenthurst Foundation, the Agricultural Research Institute (ARO) Volcani Institute of Israel, Israel Innovation Authority and AJC Africa Institute. Among the delegates were two Nigerian alumni of TAU, Endurance Ojo and Tony Bawo Esimaje, graduates of the Manna International MSc Program in Plant Sciences with Emphasis on Food Safety and Security. The event received the active help and support of attendees Eytan Stibbe of Vital Capital and Stanley and Dr. Marion Bergman. African delegates included the Vice President of Malawi, Saulos Chilima; Finance Minister of Lesotho, Dr. Moeketsi Majoro; and senior officials, bankers and entrepreneurs form across Africa.
Partnering in Nanoscience
A new collaborative venture between Northwestern University and TAU brings together researchers and students in the field of nanotechnology. Under the new partnership, two young researchers from each university will receive post-doctoral fellowships supporting two years of their research at the partner institution. The fellowships, which will cover about 75% of the total cost of the research, were paid for with funding provided by philanthropist and businessman Roman Abramovich, benefactor of TAU’s planned Abramovich Building for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. The collaboration will also offer up to two joint research grants a year to support pilot projects with commercial potential.
TAU-USF Join in Aging Research
A MoU was signed between TAU, the University of Southern Florida (USF) and the Florida-Israel Business Accelerator (FIBA) to advance R&D technologies in the field of aging, with the aim of improving life for the elderly population. The agreement was signed at a ceremony in Tampa by TAU Vice President Raanan Rein and USF President Prof. Judy Genshaft. TAU Governor David Scher, on behalf of the TAU UK Trust, was a key force behind the collaboration. The program will focus on innovations in four areas: aging in one’s own home, cardiovascular patient self-management, virtual reality in health, and hearing and speech technology. Researchers from USF and from several companies presented their latest findings.
From left: Prof. Judy Genshaft, Prof. Raanan Rein and Joseph Probasco, President, Tampa JCC and Federation TAU President Joseph Klafter with former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo
Maestro Zubin Mehta
The Annual Gala Concert of the Buchmann-Mehta Symphony Orchestra was held at the Charles Bronfman Auditorium in Tel Aviv. The concert was conducted by Yoel Levi and featured performances by outstanding Buchmann-Mehta School students and graduates, hornist Noam Fresko, pianist Itamar Prag, percussionist Eran Margalit and violinist Victoria Gelman, playing selections from Mozart, Prokofiev, Keiko Abe, Ravel and Gershwin.
During the event, the 2019 TAU President’s Award was conferred upon Maestro Zubin Mehta, Honorary President and co-founder, together with philanthropist Josef Buchmann, of TAU’s Buchmann-Mehta School of Music, and accepted on his behalf by Avi Shoshani of the IPO. The Award recognized Mehta’s more than 15 years of dedicated service to the Buchmann-Mehta School, his success in bridging between the School and the IPO, which he led for five decades, and his remarkable sixtyyear international career as a conductor who has worked with some of the world’s most notable orchestras.
The second global summit on “Life in Extreme Conditions – A Lesson from Nature,” was held at Masada by TAU’s Porter Dead Sea Institute for Life Under Extreme Conditions, funded by the Porter Foundation, in cooperation with the Tamar Regional Council and the Dead Sea and Arava Science Center. The goal of the summit was to bring together researchers from overseas and Israel to explore the intersections between geological, environmental, medical and cultural aspects of this unique region. Topics included health and medicinal benefits, microbiome, biodiversity, geophysics, seismology, sociology, anthropology, disaster mitigation and environmental studies, among others. The conference was organized by Dr. Mira Marcus-Kalish, Director of International Research Affairs of TAU.
Group photo at the Dead Sea Institute
Dead Sea Focus
American Studies Center Launched
TAU established a new multidisciplinary Center for the Study of the United States in collaboration with the Fulbright Program, headed by Dr. Yoav Fromer of the Lester and Sally Entin Faculty of Humanities and Gershon H. Gordon Faculty of Socical Sciences. The Center promotes research on politics, society, policymaking, the economy, foreign relations, culture, art and more in the USA, with the first year’s agenda dedicated to immigration issues. At Dr. Yoav Fromer the launching ceremony, Dr. Anat Lapidot-Firilla, Executive director of the Fulbright Commission in Israel, expressed her hope that the Center “will produce relevant, fresh and reliable knowledge of American contemporary society and institutions to be disseminated to a wide audience of students, researchers and public policy and opinion makers throughout Israel.” Also attending were Terry Davidson, Counselor for Public Affairs at the US Embassy in Israel, and Prof. Raanan Rein, Vice President of TAU.
Dead Sea Focus
Third Annual China Israel Innovation Forum
The third annual China Israel Innovation Forum was held in Shenzen, China, by TAU in partnership with Tsinghua University and Morningside from Hong Kong. The gathering welcomed some 120 influential individuals from academia, government and industry from China and Israel to explore the latest technological developments and university-driven innovations. TAU President Joseph Klafter co-chaired the Forum together with TAU Honorary Doctor and President of Tsinghua University Prof. Qui Yong and TAU Honorary Doctor Mr. Ronnie C. Chan, Cofounder of Morningside and Chairman of Hang Lung Properties. During the Forum meeting, TAU and Tsinghua Berkeley Research Institute (TBSI) launched a new center in Shenzhen for collaborative research, startup acceleration and incubation, thereby advancing Israel projects entering the Chinese market and vice versa.
Signing in the new TAU-TBSI Center
Pure Escapism
An Escape Room in action
TAU is providing creative new ways of making learning more fun through the Escape Room Project, a physical space that provides a hands-on and alternative way of learning complex course material. The Escape rooms involve groups of students being locked in a room and timed on how fast they can solve puzzles based on academic course material, and are designed by both academic staff and students. The Project is run by Minducate, a collaboration between the Sagol School of Neuroscience and TAU Online—Innovative Learning Center. An Escape Room called ChemX, based on a course in life sciences, involved finding an antidote to a poison created by a crazy professor. “In the escape room, abstract concepts become tangible, providing an additional level of understanding of the material,” says Guy Teichman, a PhD student in life sciences. Head of the Project Dr. Limor Radoszkowicz of Minducate, says that the project has been extremely popular with students and that registration for the slots filled up almost immediately upon opening.
President Rivlin with TAU International students
people
Israel’s President Graces Campus
President Reuven (Ruby) Rivlin visited TAU’s cutting-edge labs and heard about programs that enhance social involvement and accessibility to higher education. He then joined a panel of researchers and TAU top officials at the Cymbalista Jewish Heritage Center, where he heard presentations by Dean of Students Tova Most on TAU Impact, a program that offers students accredited courses involving community engagement projects; Arab master’s student Hiyam Diab on her experience of creating a dialogue with prisoners through TAU’s Community Theater Program; Prof. Noam Shomron of the Sackler Faculty of Medicine and master’s student Malak Darawshe, on genetic screening for preventing diseases; Prof. Yael Hanein, Head of the Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, on a project that brings together Ultra-Orthodox rabbis with TAU scientists for dialogue and cooperation on issues at the crossroads of science and Torah study; and Prof. Noam Mizrahi, Head of Bible Studies, on how state-of-the-art technologies, such as AI or DNA decryption, are taking the study of the Dead Sea Scrolls to the next level.
President Rivlin said: “I saw here today not only great scientific discoveries, but also a true understanding of the need for dialogue, and the ability to see what connects us, and not only what separates us from one another,” he said. “I hope that our society will similarly become more inclusive, so that all university graduates, no matter what their backgrounds, will be able to integrate into Israeli society and not be blocked by a ‘glass ceiling.’”
Cycling Prowess
TAU Governor Sylvan Adams (right) test drives one of the new high-performance bicycle training rigs that is part of the Sylvan Adams Sports Institute, headed by Prof. Mickey Scheinowitz (left) of the Iby and Aladar Fleishman Faculty of Engineering.
When Harry Met Zahava
TAU’s Prof. Zahava Solomon discussed issues relating to the long term trauma of military combatants with HRM Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, at the 2019 Veterans’ Mental Health Conference held at King’s College London. The goal of the conference was to share ideas about how best to support the psychological wellbeing of former military personnel.
The Duke, who served two tours in Afghanistan, discussed the long-term effects of military service with several speakers, praising their work. He is a regular champion of mental health advocacy through his work with the Royal Foundation’s “Heads Together” project, which aims to promote a national conversation on the topic.
Prince Harry discusses post-military combat trauma with TAU Prof. Zahava Solomon
“The Prince expressed great interest and concern for the safety of soldiers,” said Solomon, an Israel Prize laureate and retired LieutenantColonel in the Israel Defense Forces. “I expressed my appreciation in the name of mental health professionals in Israel for his involvement and sensitivity. For someone in his position to come forward and say it’s quite normal to be traumatized, is really beneficial.”
Prof. Solomon heads the I-CORE Research Center for Mass Trauma at TAU and has served as Head of TAU’s Bob Shapell School of Social Work and of TAU’s Adler Research Center for Child Welfare and Protection.
prizes
Prof. Amnon Yariv, the Martin and Eileen Summerfield Professor of Applied Physics and Electrical Engineering at the California Institute of Technology, was awarded a TAU Honorary Doctorate for his indelible mark in the field of integrated optics technology. Prof. Yariv is the recipient of prestigious awards and honors including the US National Medal of Science presented by President Barak Obama in 2010. His research group has generated numerous technologies, including the invention of the semiconductor distributed feedback laser, a device that enabled the transmission of mass data via phone, video, cable and the Internet. The award was presented by TAU Rector Yaron Oz and TAU Vice President Raanan Rein. Prof. Yariv is a member of and visiting lecturer at TAU’s Mortimer and Raymond Sackler Institute of Advanced Studies.
From left: Prof. Yaron Oz, Prof. Amnon Yariv and Prof. Raanan Rein
TAU Confers Honorary Doctorate on Pioneer in Internet Technology
community
At-Risk Women Get a Second Chance to Fulfill their Dreams
Young women from disadvantaged backgrounds also dare to dream big. The Alumni Organization of TAU’s NCJW Women and Gender Studies Program pioneered a project, “From #MeToo to Witches: Talking Gender,” part of the “Dream House” project at the Manof Youth Village in Akko, a boarding school for 11th and 12th graders and pre-army trainees who have struggled to integrate successfully into traditional educational frameworks.
Recognizing the role gender plays in social and work culture, the TAU alumni, led by TAU graduate and doctoral student Michal Zeevi, developed an 8-month biweekly female-centric program with Manof staff member Yakira Levi, with the cooperation of Manof Director Zehava Atrakzi. The women confronted issues such as body image, relationships and domestic violence through lectures, videos, games, and discussions meant to empower them. “Each girl needs to have a dream and she needs to try to fulfill it,” said Yakira Levi.
The NCJW supported Alumni Organization was established in 2017 by Prof. Daphna Hacker, Head of TAU’s NCJW Women and Gender Studies Program and a member of the Buchmann Faculty of Law. As part of the Program, graduates are committed to giving back to women in the community.
